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dental health and wellness fair

Are you looking to grow your pediatric dental office? Well, get your pen and paper ready because I’m going to share with you several dental marketing ideas for your pediatric office. Better yet, you might want to print out this article and discuss these idea’s with your team. Together, come up with a marketing plan that will help to make this your Best Year Yet!

Before we get started, keep in mind that the way to mom and dads heart is to treat their children well. The way to keep mom and dad loyal to your office is to treat their children exceptionally well. Why? Happy Kids = Happy Parents. As a mother of two children, I know this to be TRUE!

Skating Rink, Indoor Bounce/Trampoline, Movie Theater, Public Pool, Bowling, Local Park, etc. Invite your patients to bring a friend. Be sure to have imprinted give-away’s and information about your office at these events. Encourage all attendees to visit and like your social media pages.

Fun Dress Up/Theme Days –

What: Decorate the office, team dresses up, small prize give away’s and snacks.

Field Trips – Invite local schools and daycare’s for a free field trip to the dentist. (Serve a Healthy snack such as grapes, apple slices, string cheese and small bottled water, Present Education stations/demonstrations-visit the ADA website and Pinterest for great idea’s for presentations, Toothbrush bags for the students and teachers/parents, show a short Video while the kids eat their snack)

Outside the office –

What: On-site Short Dental Education Presentations/Demonstrations and Toothbrush gift bags for the kids and teachers/parents.

Where: School’s, Daycare’s, Library, Mom groups, etc.

New Patient Experience–

Give tour of the office, send a welcome card after first visit to the child (Kids LOVE to get mail), give a new patient gift bag, sign child up to join your office kids club/team.

Set aside some back-to-school and/or breaks from school special days in the office. Special pricing or promotion on Sealants, Ortho, Fluoride, etc. Consider doing a drawing for a Backpack filled with school supplies. Contest: nominate your favorite teacher (use social media sites to promote), prize idea’s for winning teacher: Breakfast/Lunch at the school, free teeth whitening, or team up with local businesses for prize donations.

Book Drive –

Collect new or gently used books to donate to your local library or schools. Promote via social media sites, local newspapers, in-office fliers, on continuing care postcards and to your current patients.

Incentive: Gift Basket (put together a fun themed gift basket) Every person that donates books can enter a drawing to win a gift basket. You do not need to be a patient of record to donate books.

Once you have collected all the books:

Take pictures of the books

Put together toothbrush gift bags w/office information and special offer to deliver to the employees of the library and or school.

Deliver books and gift bags to the library and or schools.

Reception Room –

In addition to being clean and with up-to-date decor consider having in your reception room: Video games (Stationary and/or handheld devices), Books (lending library), TV (children’s movies and short dental education videos) Wall of fame, digital photo frame or photo album filled with pictures of your patients. Photo “booth” area with backdrop and photo props. Tablet/Cell Phone charging station for parents.

Kid’s Club/Team –

I’m not a fan of “no cavity” clubs because I like to see all children have the opportunity to be part of the office kids club/team and sometimes, a child’s unfortunate cavity is the fault of the parent. Have a club/team that is just for fun and that rewards healthy habits. Take a picture of each child to hang on your wall of fame or in a digital photo frame or picture album, as well as for your website, newsletter and/or social media sites. Present child with a certificate/wristband/t-shirt when they sign up for your kids club. Have monthly contests/drawings that the children can enter to win prizes.

Utilize social media platforms to keep your current patients up to date with all of your office happenings, to build relationships with local businesses and connect with potential patients. See Social Media Site Posting Content Idea’s

Answer Your Phone –

Sure, you know that the office phone should be answered within the first couple of rings by an unhurried, friendly scheduling coordinator whose goal is to schedule an appointment and wow the caller with excellent customer service but if you want to see greater results from your marketing efforts, then you must be certain that your office phone is answered during times when patients are calling. Minimum: Monday – Saturday 8:00am – 6:00pm, including lunch hours. Invest in your entire teamby providing training on how to effectively answer the phone.

Forward your calls to an answering service if needed. Having a live person for the caller to talk to is so much better than your caller getting an answering machine or voice mail and then deciding to call the next dental office on their list in hopes of talking to a “live” person.

Also, despite our best intentions to not put a caller on hold we know that it still happens from time to time. Consider having an on hold message for these times, this way, you’ll have the opportunity to share office information, special offers, social media sites, etc. with the caller rather than them listen to nothing, an annoying beeping sound or lame music. See also: Should I Use A Message On Hold Service

Consistently Exceed Parent & Patient Expectations and Consistently Be Great! Give your patients something positive to talk about to their neighbors, workmates, friends and family members. Make it easy for them to refer patients to you. (If you need some idea’s to help Improve your Office, be sure to check out my Improve your Office series: First Impressions, Make A Change and The Little Things Matter.

While we’re at it, here are a few more bonus ideas 🙂 …

Blog/Website –Become the dental expert in your community. Post articles, videos and pictures on your website and social media sites about different dental treatments/products, sports safety, what to do in a dental emergency, etc. TIP: Pin your blog posts, articles, videos and pictures to your office Pinterest boards. Pinterest is a GREAT way to drive traffic to your website. If you don’t already have Pinterest for your office, add that to your to-do-list. Have a variety of family related boards such as dental health tips, recipes, crafts, party ideas, healthy snacks, book idea’s and more. Feel free to check out my Pinterest boards for idea’s.

Sponsor local sport teams –Free or reduced rate for mouthguards for local sports teams.

Distractions –TV’s in the treatment rooms, Ceiling Tile Scenery, Etc. Make the experience as comfortable and enjoyable as possible for every child.

Post-Op Calls – Each evening place a “just wanted to see how well you’re doing call” to any patient that had an extraction or maybe was nervous or had a rough time during their visit.

First “Happy” Visit Experience –Take picture of child in the chair (maybe holding a first visit sign or certificate) and give to parent in a cute picture frame.

I know this is a lot of information but if you’re serious about wanting to grow your practice, then it’s worth it to take the time to market your practice effectively using some or all of the idea’s that I have shared with you today. Remember, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, you don’t have to do this on your own, I’m here to help.

Before I go, here are a few Important Reminders:If you’re going to take the time to visit schools and local businesses be sure that you leave them with information about your office, special offers and imprinted gifts with your office name, phone number and website.

Also, keep track of your events, the businesses you visit, any donation requests, etc. Put specific referral source codes in to your software system, this way, when you ask “How did you hear about us?” you have the correct referral code to enter in and you’ll be able to acknowledge that source with a thank you as well as know what marketing is working to bring in new patients.

Are you receiving my complimentary Practice Management and Marketing Ideas in your email inbox each month? If not, please subscribe today. Feel free to tell your dental friends all about us so they can start benefiting from these dental ideas too. If you liked these ideas, please let me know by hitting the “like” button. Thank you!!!

If your office is planning on participating in a community health and wellness fair or expo, I have some ideas to help you make it a big success.

Health Fair settings can be challenging for a couple of different reasons.

One, there are a lot of vendors and booths/displays so you’re going to want to make sure that your display table stands out. That it draws the attention of the guests. Second, most people are there for something free. No problem for you, because they won’t leave your display empty handed.

Many wonder what they should talk about and what sort of items should they give away?

~ Rethink your Drink or How Much Sugar is in your Favorite Drink display
~ Good Foods / Bad Foods
~ Healthy Snack Idea’s
~ Power Point on a laptop/tablet/large monitor with before and afters
~ How To Demonstrations: Proper Brushing & Flossing Techniques

Keep your table neat but attractive – too much information and “stuff” will be overwhelming in that setting.

Include a Big Call to Action with a deadline: You could hand out a sheet of paper that has a special offer on it: Complimentary Oral Cancer Screening, New Patient Special or Teeth Whitening Offer. On that sheet include some of the other services you offer. Also, include your social media sites and of course all your office contact info.

Make certain that you’ll have the ability to schedule complimentary consultations and New Patient Hygiene visits right there on the spot. (Access to schedule…at the very least a copy of the schedule for the next 2 weeks.)

Very Important: Your display table must include friendly, smiling, approachable and outgoing team members. (also wearing, professional & clean attire)

Reusable Bags with your Office Information on them is a handy give-away, one that allows them to carry their free gifts in and advertise your office for you 😉 If you’re not looking to spend a lot on bags, please consider using small imprinted plastic bags so no one is fumbling with their gifts.

(If you’re wondering where you can order some of the imprinted items listed above and many others not listed, check out Bizarre Marketing. I share this particular company with you because their customer service is awesome.)

Raffle / Drawing ~

~ Electric Toothbrush
~ Whitening Pen
~ Gift Cards
~ Gift Baskets ( Themes: Dental, Family Games, Gardening, Seasonal items, BBQ, Spa – don’t hesitate to team up with local businesses for basket items)
~ Free Teeth Whitening and or $ off Dental Treatment ( NOTE: they can either check the box for which one or all that they are hoping to win. Use a full sheet of paper with prize options and large space for them to fill out their name, email, address & phone (to be used later to send nice to meet you cards).

Should you decide to use a Prize Wheel instead of Raffle/Drawing be sure to find another way to capture their information so you can follow up with a “pleasure to meet you” thank you card after the event.

Encourage attendees to “like” your office Facebook page and “follow” your office on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Perhaps you can offer some type of incentive/reward for visiting your social media sites.

Take a few minutes before and after the event to briefly introduce yourself to the other vendors and businesses at the expo. Give them a bag with some of your office freebies. This is a great opportunity to build relationships within your community.

So many ways for you to have a fun and successful health and wellness fair. Do you have any other ideas that have worked well for you? Please, share them with me.

If you do not already subscribe to receive our free dental marketing and practice management ideas right to your email inbox each month, please do so today. Feel free to tell your dental friends about Hayden Consulting. ~Thank you!